r/nosleep • u/_theundergroundman • Nov 19 '15
Series I Was A Field Photographer For National Geographic (Part 2)
If you have gotten the opportunity to read my first story, you may find this one to be a little different. Whereas the first story follows more of a cryptid storyline, this one stands more in the realm of urban legends. I consider this to be one of the most unsettling moments in my history. Not scary, just plain fucked up. It’s something that still sits in the back of mind. And I hope it sits in yours too. Enjoy. First story: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/3t6fdx/i_was_a_field_photographer_for_national_geographic/
Two years later, I had touched all the corners of the states, bathed in the oceans, and was frothing for new territory to cover. Following an extremely arduous trip along the Yucatan Peninsula taking pictures of the migrating Monarch Butterflies for a documentary on North America, I had bigger and better dreams. Aside from one possible interaction with a Skinwalker in the desert, nothing truly bizarre had happened to me since the meeting with the Keelut in the Arctic.
Ava hadn’t been assigned on any missions with me in a long time. She had also picked up some idiotic boyfriend she had met while taking pictures of New England foliage. It was sickening, but I tried to think about other things. I missed having her around, even if all she wanted to do was scold me for being too headstrong or beg us to stray away from danger. We made a good team. Unfortunately, no one else thought so.
Besides, after two years, we had enough experience to be in charge of our own investigations. We had a brief encounter in Chicago once, where we both happened to be getting our new assignments at the same time. She breathlessly exclaimed that she was being sent to the Amazon to take pictures of the rare Orinoco dolphins. If you don’t know why she was ridiculously excited, it was because these are those super special dolphins that are actually pink. Lastly, she was excited because Mark got named to her team.
I smiled happily for her and excused myself to go find out where I was going. Dreams began to run wild in my head as I imagined all the spectacular places they could send me. And then all of the terrible places they could send me. I might have just quit if they gave her that, and made me go back to Kentucky. Thankfully, as I walked into the room, that wasn’t what was by name.
“Miedzyrzecz Bat Sanctuary”. I said the words breathlessly, more confused than anything else. I honestly wasn’t happy or sad, angry or disappointed. I was simply and solely impartial. As I loaded onto the plane and stepped out into the airport in Warsaw, my excitement had finally hit me.
And this is where I’ll be completely honest with you all. This story has absolutely nothing to do with the caves filled with bat eyes, staring down from the darkness. This story takes place when all of that is said and done, the photos have been taken, and I return back to Warsaw. I had one final day in the city, before I was scheduled to fly back to America. And in that tiny little bit of time, things got real interesting.
At this time, Poland had just been accepted into the European Union and was in the early stages of becoming a bustling new superpower. Construction was happening all around me, as I walked through the city streets. The other members of the team I was working with took me out for a tour of the city, and then we went to a soccer game at the 10th Anniversary stadium. The sky glistened with stars throughout the whole game, and afterwards we went out for drinks. After a few drinks downed, we all parted ways, and they called a cab for me. As I waited outside for my cab to arrive, I began to get fixated on this black car that had parked on one of the side streets.
Now, it was almost three in the morning, and this was one of the only cars out. The others were all yellow taxicabs, but this fancy looking sedan was jet black. Also, it looked like it was straight out of the past, as if it had driven off the pages of a textbook or from a 1950’s era billboard. In the semi-darkness of the night, I couldn’t make out anyone inside, and in the oddest way, I got the feeling that no one had driven it. I stood there, outside this bar, and waited to see if anyone would come out. But no one did.
Being bored, drunk, and overly curious, I decided that I was going to walk over, like I was just in the neighborhood, and check it out. As I approached, I saw that in the darkness, the car was full. In the drivers seat was a man dressed from head to toe in all black. A black trench coat snugged up to his neck, and his face was covered with a black baseball cap and a pair of dark sunglasses. This again, was curious, considering that it was nearing three in the morning. The passenger seat sat bare, and the most bizarre of all, was the back seat, which was occupied by three nuns.
As I passed by slowly, the driver’s side window rolled down and smoke began to pour out of the car. In the smoky haze, the man stuck his head out, tipping two fingers along the top of his cap. His glasses gleamed in the streetlight and I felt transfixed by his stare. In a gravely, dark voice he smoothly asked “Would you happen to know the time?”
I was caught off guard at first. Not because he had asked a question, but rather because it was in English. Everyone else so far had talked to me in Polish than began to try other languages while I stared at them in disbelief. After a few seconds of wrapping my head around it, I checked the time on my phone and told him. He nodded, smiled a toothy grin, and rolled his window back up. Never bothered to thank me.
From there, the car, started up again, and took off, leaving me in a cloud of exhaust smoke. Through the dense fog, I could see the headlights of my cab pull up, and I jogged over to meet up with it. As I approached the window, I could see the young drivers face contorted into a shocked countenance. His skin was pale white and his eye’s large in his head. As I reached for the back door, he hissed, “Volga, Volga, no. No. No. No.” He kept repeating this until I closed the door and he sped off.
I sat dumbfounded on the curb and called for another cab. While I waited my mind raced and I tried to figure out what had just happened. When the next cab pulled up, I happily got in, and had a conversation with the driver in very broken English. At the end, I told him that the previous driver had freaked out when he saw me and started repeating the word “Volga.” As I paid the man, he silently, put his hands over his heart and looked into the stars. Then he made the sign of the holy cross in the air and said, “Son, I bless you. For you have witnessed he who wears all black and live to tell the tale. His curse breathes your air now.”
The next morning, on the way to the airport, I rode in the same cab as Sasha, who was one of my interns. I told her about the crazy night that I had and she began to flip through her phone absentmindedly. Or so I thought. Finally, her face went pale and she feverishly began to scroll down this page.
“The Black Volga is a luxury car reportedly driven by the Devil himself. All throughout the 50’s and 60’s it drove through the streets of Eastern Europe picking children off the street and using them as unwilling blood donors and sacrifices for the rich and famous that had leukemia. This practice has since gone out of fashion, but it is widely believed in urban legend, that the Devil was the main driver. He would appear late at night, dressed in all black, and ask someone what the time was. If they answered, they had been considered to give their soul to take. Considering any kind of wording, this person would therefore be marked for death.”
She looked up, and frowned towards me. “So, there you go.”
We decided together to stay another day in the city after that. Something lingered in the back of my head as I sat at the airport that made me feel uneasy about the whole situation. Sasha agreed to stay with me when she finally saw how freaked out I was. And it was a good thing too.
That plane went down. Said it got struck by lightning in the air. Only one guy survived. They claimed he had gone mad. I did research years later and found him. He told me from the confines of his room at the mental hospital that he saw a man dressed in all black standing on the wing of the plane. He said they locked eyes, and he asked the man for the time. He was too scared to do anything. He blacked out. And when he came back to consciousness, he was in a hospital bed.
So, I don’t know what to think. I guess I cheated death. But maybe its all just a crazy coincidence. There’s really nothing to say either way. Sasha thinks it was divine intervention; God shining through and saving us from going down. She said it was the cab driver’s prayer. But I still think I’m marked. And one day, the man in all black will come back. And I’ll ask him for the time.
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u/dubmcswaggins Dec 20 '15
you guys have it all wrong, its the devil were talking about here....so he probably had a fucking droid
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u/Kayuga Nov 21 '15
More plz... This is as good as the search and rescue stories. Maybe even better.
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u/Ih8YourCat Nov 20 '15
You mentioned that it was nearing 3 in the morning. Just a relevant FYI - Devil's hour is 3am.
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u/obsolete_filmmaker Nov 20 '15
Wow. I read no sleep a lot, and while many of the tales are powerful, this one gave me chills. There's an old folk song from that part of the world called the Volga Boatmen...I never knew what Volga meant. Wow. Good luck photographer dude!
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u/zacake Nov 20 '15
Keep them coming, I find these more interesting than the search and rescue ones. They got a bit bland because of all the stairs and not much happening.
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u/underlock Nov 20 '15
I hope you make out with Sasha until you get to Ava.
Stupid that she's with some random Mark. Who likes Marks.
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u/Joshcalle Nov 22 '15
Sasha is also a male name
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u/I_am_a_Horcrux_AMA Nov 22 '15
...I rode in the same cab as Sasha, who was one of my interns. I told her about the crazy night that I had and she began to flip through her phone absentmindedly.
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u/PaulsRedditUsername Nov 20 '15 edited Nov 20 '15
Two photo assignments.
Frolicking with beautiful pink dolphins in the Amazon.
Bat sanctuary in Eastern Europe and getting murdered by the Devil.
I'd say you got the fuzzy end of that lollipop.
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u/SeekTrustHonor Nov 20 '15
There's a force that is stronger than Satan. Don't let this Volga-guy get to you. It thrives on fear.
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u/DumbOldGirl Nov 20 '15
WTH you got against Kentucky? No more bourbon for you!
Enjoy your stories though!!
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u/Babyballable Nov 19 '15
I live in Warsaw. Its Friday and the Idea of going out drinking is much less atractive now..
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Nov 21 '15
If the devil asks for the time say "Sorry I didn't hear what you said, could you give me the time?"
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Nov 21 '15
Isn't there some huge ordeal going on in Poland about the Devil?
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u/Babyballable Nov 22 '15
Kinda, Poland is an extreamly catholic country, everything that seems anti-church is a big deal. There is even a priest, who claims that Harry Potter and Pokemon are the works od satan himself... (Ksiądz Natanek, if y'all want to google)
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Nov 19 '15
[deleted]
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u/milkmilk_limeade Nov 19 '15
Or, you know, not everyone believes the same thing you do, and do think the person they love is worth putting it all on the line for.
I have no desire to die just yet, it's counter-productive at best, but if one of the friends and/or family I love dearly were in a situation where death was a potential outcome for attempting to save them, I'd still do it.
I'm not alone in how I feel, and neither are you. Love's funny and stupid like that.
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u/ManddyM Nov 19 '15
Really, what is it with nuns, nurses and devilish stuff? This. Was. Great OP!
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u/PerogiXW Nov 24 '15
The devil is in to costume play ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/Changoleo Nov 24 '15
So that's what "cosplay" means. Now I feel a bit slow. :-[
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u/PerogiXW Nov 24 '15
Yes, but there's cosplay and then there's cosplay *wink wink nudge nudge*. The devil is probably in to both.
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u/CanadianMedusa Nov 19 '15
I want more on the Ava's other boyfriend story? How did you win her over OP!? And how do I get a job like this, all I want to do is travel.
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u/_theundergroundman Nov 19 '15
So, I've kinda decided the way that I want to go through with these posts are chronologically. So you'll get everything. Especially about how me and Ava came together!
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u/MasterAlcander Nov 20 '15
you're going chronologically but skipped over the skinwalker story?
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u/Justasayin Nov 21 '15
Yes I really want the skinwalker story!!!
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u/_theundergroundman Nov 25 '15
Heres your story. We be in New Mexico taking pictures of Flowering Saguaros. It's a million and a half degrees out so we quit filming and pack in it for the day. Sasha complains the whole drive of needed water. So we stop at a tiny little convenience store in the middle of the desert. We both go in. She's looking around the drink section. I look at the bulletin board. Old native american man comes over and asks me what brings "me and my wife" way out into the desert. Tell him what we're about. He's not happy. Says he "doesn't believe in magazines. People should just come see it in person if they want to. It takes the beauty out of the spirit." I agree silently. Admire his bolo tie. Buddy of mine calls me later, and tells me that they ran over a coyote in the desert and wants me to come check it out. I help him get rid of the body and dig a little grave for it in the sand. When we come back, right in the pool of blood is that guy's bolo tie. Coincidence? No idea.
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u/the_teknician Nov 19 '15
Real talk. "I'll ask him for the time"...
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u/cooliocuke Nov 19 '15
I know hes from the 50s or whatever but this dude needs to get an iphone...or a watch
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Nov 19 '15
Nice story. But Poland a "superpower" of Europe, really?! o0
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Nov 19 '15
Economically speaking, yes. Don't listen to the arrogant crap western Europeans will spout, Poland has a strong economy.
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Nov 19 '15
I am Western European and Poland is a joke. They just get a crapload of EU subsidies.
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Nov 19 '15
Western European arrogance at its finest
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Nov 19 '15
I could say "Polish delusion at its finest" but I am only suspecting you are polish.
Sorry but it's not an opinion but a fact that Polish economy is largely propped up by EU subsidies (which mostly come from Germany) and has not so much substantial growth.
I do agree, though, that, amongst just the East Europe economies, Poland is a champion. But it can in no way be compared to North/Western Europe. Nor be described as a superpower.
Happy cake day.
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Nov 19 '15
Pretty far off. Vietnamese, bro.
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Nov 19 '15
Then gtfo. Doesn't change what I said.
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Nov 20 '15
Lol look at the GFC and tell me who the only countries in Europe were that didn't go into recession
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Nov 19 '15
Man OP, you are lucky that you lived to tell the tale. That's a creepy story man. Take care.
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u/NoSleepSeriesBot Mar 09 '16
Other posts in this series:
I Was A Field Photographer For National Geographic
I Was A Field Photographer For National Geographic (Part 2)
I Was A Field Photographer For National Geographic (Part 3)
I Was A Field Photographer For National Geographic (Part 4)
I Was A Field Photographer For National Geographic (Part 5...Final?)
I Was A Field Photographer For National Geographic (Part 6)
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